Tcp enhancements in reduced radio link quality conditions

ABSTRACT

Performance in a communications system is improved by determining whether an application executing over a data bearer is using transmission control protocol (TCP). A TCP ACK reduction request is received and at least one redundant TCP ACK is filtered out.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/449,687 entitled “Method of Multi-Radio Control for TCP Throughput Enhancement,” filed Jan. 24, 2017, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Millimeter wave radio communications (corresponding to radio frequencies above roughly 10 GHz) afford substantially higher data capacity than their longer wavelength counterparts. Consequently, communications at such frequencies are one of the central enhancements being adopted in the 3^(rd) generation partnership project (3GPP) standards for the next generation, so-called 5G, mobile telecommunication networks. While 5G will provide data rates in the 10 Mbit/s-1 Gbit/s range, shorter wavelength radio communications suffer high variability in radio link quality. Indeed, buildings, automobiles and even the human body can interfere with millimeter wave radio, thus diminishing the quality of the affected radio links.

FIG. 9 depicts a blocker 10 being interposed between user equipment (UE) 110 (also referred to as a wireless transmit and receive unit (WTRU)) and a transmitter (not illustrated). As illustrated in the figure, blocker 10 has a dimension W that is transverse to the directionality of the UE antenna, is located a distance D from UE 20 and is moving at velocity V. Table 30 illustrates radio link outage intervals for different types of blockers 10, where items 32 may correspond to a large truck, items 34 may correspond to a passenger automobile and item 36 may correspond to a human body. As FIG. 9 demonstrates, considerable radio link outage may occur in the presence of these blockers.

FIG. 10 illustrates another blockage scenario in which passenger automobiles 12 a-12 d, representatively referred to herein as automobile(s) 12, are moving at a velocity V and maintaining a distance D_safe between one automobile 12 to the next. In such a case, the blockage is intermittent, with the time between successive blockage events being illustrated in Table 40.

While physical layer interference is entirely expected in the presence of blockers, what is less expected is the dramatic effect on the transport layer that such blockage entails. FIG. 11 illustrates the effect on data rate 50 and TCP sender window size (MSS per the Transport Control Protocol (TCP)) 60 responsive to blockage at blocking intervals 55 a-55 e, representatively referred to herein as blocking interval(s) 55. As illustrated in the figure, there is significant degradation in data throughput in the presence of blockers, but such degradation is attributable not just by a drop in radio signal strength or quality. Indeed, radio blockage has a profound impact on data transport such as by TCP as demonstrated by Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 TCP TCP Blockage Model Blockage Ratio Throughput Degradation No Blocking 0% 807 Mbps 0% 0.1 s blocking every 5 s 2% 712 Mbps −12% 0.2 s blocking every 5 s 4% 371 Mbps −54% 1 s blocking every 5 s 20% 229 Mbps −72%

The causes of such dramatic drop in TCP throughput over the corresponding blockage ratio include TCP sender retransmission timeout (RTO) and congestion control mechanisms was triggered such as window shrinking. Overcoming such degradation in TCP throughput is a subject of ongoing research and engineering efforts.

SUMMARY

Performance in a communications system is improved by determining whether an application executing over a data bearer is using transmission control protocol (TCP). A TCP ACK reduction request is received and at least one redundant TCP ACK is filtered out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an example system in which the present general inventive concept can be embodied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an example dual connectivity mode in which embodiments of the present general inventive concept can be configured.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of example logic flow in accordance with which the present general inventive concept can be embodied.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an example blockage detection process by which the present general inventive concept can be embodied.

FIGS. 5A-5B are graphs representing different blockage indications that can be used in conjunction with embodiments of the present general inventive concept.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example uplink bearer switching process by which the present general inventive concept can be embodied.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example downlink bearer switching process by which the present general inventive concept can be embodied.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an example TCP enhancement process by which the present general inventive concept can be embodied.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a millimeter wave radio blockage scenario.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of another millimeter wave radio blockage scenario.

FIG. 11 is a set of graphs illustrating the impact of millimeter wave radio blockage on TCP throughput.

DESCRIPTION

The present inventive concept is best described through certain embodiments thereof, which are described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like features throughout. It is to be understood that the term invention, when used herein, is intended to connote the inventive concept underlying the embodiments described below and not merely the embodiments themselves. It is to be understood further that the general inventive concept is not limited to the illustrative embodiments described below and the following descriptions should be read in such light.

Additionally, the word exemplary is used herein to mean, “serving as an example, instance or illustration.” Any embodiment of construction, process, design, technique, etc., designated herein as exemplary is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other such embodiments. Particular quality or fitness of the examples indicated herein as exemplary is neither intended nor should be inferred.

Embodiments of the invention ameliorate deteriorative effects on connection-oriented application layer data transport, such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), in the presence radio signal blockage. While the embodiments described herein are directed to mitigating TCP issues in a 5G next generation or “new” radio (NR) embodiments, such is solely for purposes of description and explanation. Those having skill in the art will recognize other network environments in which the present invention can be realized without departing from the spirit and intended scope thereof.

For purposes of succinctness and clarity, suitable shorthand notation will be adopted to indicate a distinction between radio access technologies. While 5G can be considered a progression of the long term evolution (LTE) standards maintained by 3GPP, the acronym LTE will be used herein to refer to legacy LTE evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) implementations, e.g., 4G, while the acronym 5G will refer to implementations that include NR operating at millimeter wavelengths.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an example system 100 by which the present invention can be embodied. UE 110 may be a wireless transmit and receive unit (WTRU) comprising radio circuitry 110 a, processor circuitry 110 b and memory circuitry 110 c. UE 110 may be constructed or otherwise configured to communicate with an LTE evolved Node B (eNB) and with a 5G next generation node B (gNB) comprising radio circuitry 120 a and 130 a, respectively, processor circuitry 120 b and 130 b, respectively and memory circuitry 120 c and 130 c, respectively. UE 110 may be communicatively coupled to eNB 120 over a signaling link 152 and to a gNB 130 over a signaling link 154. ENB 120 and gNB 130 may be communicatively coupled to a core network, such as the LTE evolved packet core (EPC) 140, over signaling links 156 and 158, respectively. Additionally, eNB 120 and gNB 130 may be communicatively coupled to each other over suitable signaling link 155. Those having skill in the art will appreciate that, although not illustrated in the figure, signaling links 152, 154, 155, 156 and 158 may carry either or both control plane data and user plane data, depending on the connected entities. The skilled artisan will recognize that environment 100 represents a 5G non-standalone (NSA) architecture implementation.

Resources in eNB 120 and gNB 130, e.g., radio circuitry 120 a and 130 a, processor circuitry 120 b and 130 b and memory circuitry 120 c and 130 c, may be constructed or otherwise configured to realize radio protocol stacks 125 and 135, respectively. Each radio stack 125 and 135 may realize, among others, a radio resource control (RRC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer. The RRC layers, PDCP layers, RLC layers and MAC layers are specifically configured for the radio access technology, LTE or NR, utilized at that particular radio node. Resources in UE 110, e.g., radio circuitry 110 a, processor circuitry 110 b and memory circuitry 110 c, may be constructed or otherwise configured to realize radio protocol stacks 115 a and 115 b, each comprising an RRC layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer and a PHY layer. Radio protocol stacks 115 a and 115 b are constructed or otherwise configured for each radio access technology utilized in eNB 120 and gNB 130, e.g., LTE and NR, respectively.

FIG. 2 illustrates a dual connectivity configuration 200 that may be used in conjunction with embodiments of the present invention. In dual connectivity configuration 200, 5G NR PDCP entities may be communicatively coupled to LTE E-UTRA RLC entities. While such coupling takes place onboard UE 110, the communication between eNB 120, serving as master node MN, and gNB 130, serving as secondary node SN, may proceed over the X2 interface. Dual connectivity configuration 200 allows UE 110 to simultaneously transmit and receive data on multiple component carriers from two cell groups via master node MN and secondary node SN. This is a distinction from carrier aggregation (CA) which allows UE 110 to simultaneously transmit and receive data on multiple component carriers from a single base node. CA traffic is split in the MAC layer, while E-UTRAN dual connectivity (EN-DC) is split in the PDCP layer.

In the system configuration of FIG. 1, UE 110 is configured to convey data over alternate links, either through two separate PDCP entities corresponding to individual bearers or a single PDCP entity corresponding to a split bearer. In certain embodiments, traffic is transported over a first bearer between UE 110 and, for example, gNB 130 until the link quality meets some unacceptability criterion, such as an indication of blockage. Responsive to the link quality meeting the unacceptability criterion, traffic may be transferred to an alternative bearer between UE 110 and, for example, eNB 120.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprising blockage detection logic 310, by which diminished radio link quality situations are identified, bearer switching logic 320, by which radio link quality issues are mitigated and TCP enhancement logic 330, by which TCP operation is restored once such radio link quality mitigation has occurred. It is to be understood that while blockage detection logic 310, bearer switching logic 320 and TCP enhancement logic 330 are illustrated in FIG. 3 as contained in a composite flow, each of these components may be used alone in other contexts, as the skilled artisan will appreciate upon review of this disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary blockage detection process 400 that may be implemented by blockage detection logic 310. In operation 405, radio link characteristics of NR are monitored. Blockage detection logic 310 may continuously perform radio link monitoring to determine when radio blockage is occurring. Such may be achieved by various mechanisms onboard UE 110, e.g., conventional measurements configured by the RRC layer and radio link monitoring performed by the Physical layer.

In operation 410, it is determined whether there are characteristics of blockage in the measured radio characteristics. In certain embodiments of the invention, UE 110 may monitor one of several different parameters of the radio link to determine whether blockage is occurring, including reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), signal to interference plus noise (SINR), block error rate (BLER) and channel quality indicator (CQI). Such parameters may be compared with respective thresholds established by a user or network administrator. In other implementations, blockage may be identified from increasing latency of acknowledgments of RLC PDUs, increasing queuing time in layer 2 buffer and degradation in successful delivery indication as HARQ ACK.

Referring to FIG. 5A, there is illustrated a graph that demonstrates in-sync and out-of-sync conditions according to one embodiment, where selected number of out-of-sync indications provides evidence of radio link blockage. Here, a serving beam and candidate beam are compared to a block error rate (BLER) threshold that determines whether each beam is in-sync or out-of-sync. The BLER may be compared with a suitable threshold, e.g., LTE defines a threshold of 2% (Qin) on the PDCCH block error rate as in-sync and 10% (Qout) as out-of-sync.

FIG. 5B is another graph depicting how a beam may be identified as blocked. In this case, historical data are maintained and whether a beam is blocked is determined by whether the quality of that beam has decreased by an amount determined from the historical data. Various statistics may be derived from the historical data that can be used to establish an unacceptability criterion, such as a radio quality threshold. For example, Threshold 1 may be a difference between a current radio link measurement on a serving beam and a historical radio link measurement and Threshold 2 may be a difference between a current radio link measurement on a candidate beam and the historical radio link measurement.

Returning to FIG. 4, if it is determined at operation 410 that there are characteristics of blockage present, process 400 may transition to operation 420, by which it is determined whether a blockage report is to be issued by UE 110. In certain embodiments, a blockage report is a suitably formatted message that indicates to network entities that a blockage condition (such as determined per the unacceptability criterion described above) exists. Such message may contain information relevant to radio resource management, such as measurement result and beam information. The radio resource manager may utilize the information to take some action, e.g., select a different beam or assert another scheduling policy. In certain implementations, a blockage report may not be necessary, in which case the sending of the report can be omitted. If a report is to be issued by UE 110, as determined in operation 420, embodiments of the invention may format and convey a blockage report indicating such to the network in operation 425. The blockage report can be sent via a newly active uplink, such as described below.

Responsive to blockage being detected, embodiments of the invention may perform bearer switching from an NR bearer to an LTE bearer. Two modes of bearer switching are contemplated for embodiments of the invention: an autonomous mode in which the uplink is switched from NR to LTE without a prior report being sent and a network assisted mode in which the uplink is switched only after the network has approved the switch in response to a blockage or other report. For example, in certain embodiments, UE 110 may format and send an RRC measurement report to EPC 140, in response to which EPC 140 may initiate an RRC connection reconfiguration procedure with UE 110. In the autonomous switching mode, UE 110 does not require an RRC message to command the switching, instead, the UE itself selects the UL transmission path among the two cell groups.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary bearer switching process 600 that may be implemented by bearer switching logic 320. In operation 605, UE 110 determines of selects an active uplink cell group. For example, UE110 may select NR link as active cell group with gNB 130. Uplink traffic is conveyed over the active link in operation 610, where the LTE radio is utilized as a backup radio in the event of blockage. In certain embodiments, when UE 110 is not in active transmission mode with any one of the cell groups, the associated radio circuitry can be placed in a reduced power mode.

In operation 615, it is determined whether an uplink switch is required. Such uplink switching may be required when a blockage condition exists, but the invention is not so limited. If uplink switching is required, process 600 may transition to operation 620, by which transmissions between UE 110 and the active cell group are suspended. In operation 625, UE 110 switches to or otherwise selects an alternative cell group, e.g., eNB 120. Once this has been achieved, radio link monitoring may continue in order to determine when the blocking condition (or other unacceptable condition) is lifted.

In operation 630, missing PDUs are restored. During the latency period between when the radio link quality fails and when the radio switching occurs, some packets may be lost. In one embodiment, the PDCP layer shall guarantee that data for which an acknowledgment has not been received is retransmitted. In certain embodiments, upon UE 110 switching the radio link, UE 110 shall ensure the data sent but unacknowledged in the previous link are retransmitted in the new link responsive to a request for such from EPC 140. In other embodiments, a report may be formatted and conveyed so that missing blocks can be retransmitted over LTE. This may be achieved by a suitably formatted PDCP status report.

Certain embodiments implement a rapid recovery mechanism employed when it is determined that blockage has been lifted and system 100 is to recover. For example, when there are characteristics of blockage present, the original UL configuration is cached under a resumptive configuration ID for rapid re-establishment of NR operations once the blockage ceases. In certain embodiments, this may be achieved by requesting relevant information, e.g., cell ID, band configuration, etc., from the network via eNB 120. Upon recovery, both the network and the UE 110 can recall its configuration from memory by the resumptive configuration ID. UE 110 may switch traffic to its NR in recovering from a previous switch according to the configuration data stored under the resumptive configuration ID.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example downlink bearer switching process 700. In operation 705, UE 110 receives its initial configuration to select a link in an active downlink cell group. For example, UE 110 may establish a link with gNB 130. In operation 710, it is determined whether downlink switching is required, such as in the case of blockage. If downlink switching is required, process 700 may transition to operation 715, by which downlink transmissions between UE 110 and the active cell group are suspended. In operation 717, UE 110 switch the transmissions with the active cell group into reduced power mode. In operation 720, UE 110 switches to or otherwise selects an alternate cell group, e.g., eNB 120. In operation 723, the alternate cell is awoken from its reduced power mode.

Once a quality radio link has been established over LTE, embodiments of the invention may turn to mitigating TCP flow and congestion control issues created when the NR radio link failed. FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an exemplary TCP enhancement process 800 that may be implemented in TCP enhancement logic 330. In operation 805, it is determined whether TCP ACK reduction is required, such as to conserve radio resources. If so, process 800 may transition to operation 810, by which TCP ACKs are filtered to remove those that can be omitted and replaced by a single ACK with the suitably encompassing sequence number. Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 8, embodiments of the invention may determine whether there is deterioration in TCP throughput, such as by monitoring flows in the active link. If so, process 800 may transition to operation 820, whereby UE 110 may send an upstream DSACK to return the window to its original state.

The descriptions above are intended to illustrate possible implementations of the present inventive concept and are not restrictive. Many variations, modifications and alternatives will become apparent to the skilled artisan upon review of this disclosure. For example, components equivalent to those shown and described may be substituted therefor, elements and methods individually described may be combined, and elements described as discrete may be distributed across many components. The scope of the invention should therefore be determined not with reference to the description above, but with reference to the appended claims, along with their full range of equivalents. 

1. A method for improving performance in a communications system, the method comprising: determining whether an application executing over a data bearer is using transmission control protocol (TCP); receiving a TCP ACK reduction request; and filtering out at least one redundant TCP ACK.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reception of TCP ACK reduction request is by a radio resource control (RRC) message or a media access control (MAC) control element or a packet data conversion protocol (PDCP) control protocol data unit (PDU) from a gNB.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein filtering out at least one redundant TCP ACK comprises: searching a list of queued TCP ACK whose destinations are a common TCP server; determining the latest sequence number in the TCP ACKs; deleting one or more TCP ACKs whose sequence number is earlier than a latest TCP ACK.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein further comprising: extending the acknowledge sequence number range according to the deleted TCP ACKs in a remaining TCP ACK to be sent.
 5. A method for improving performance in a communications system, comprising the steps of: determining whether an application executing over a data bearer is using TCP; detecting a degradation on DL throughput; generating a TCP DSACK packet with received data; sending the TCP DSACK.
 6. An apparatus comprising: radio circuitry by which wireless electromagnetic radio signals are conveyed to and from one or more radio nodes; and processor circuitry configured to: determine whether an application executing over a data bearer is using transmission control protocol (TCP); receive a TCP ACK reduction request; and filter out at least one redundant TCP ACK.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein filtering out at least one redundant TCP ACK comprises: search a list of queued TCP ACK whose destinations are a common TCP server; determine the latest sequence number in the TCP ACKs; and delete one or more TCP ACKs whose sequence number is earlier than a latest TCP ACK.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to: extend the acknowledge sequence number range according to the deleted TCP ACKs in a remaining TCP ACK to be sent. 